Corker compares cliff vote to "eating a you-know-what sandwich"

Explaining his vote in favor of a fiscal compromise bill during an appearance on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Wednesday, Sen. Bob Corker compared his vote to "eating a you-know-what sandwich."

"If there's anybody in the Senate who had a reason to vote against this, it's me," Corker said.

But Corker, who along with Sen. Lamar Alexander voted in support of the bill Monday, said his approach to considering the legislation was to allow his head to guide his decision rather than his emotions.

Still, the senator described his mood as "livid."

"At the end of the day, on a big vote like this, when I go to the floor [for] a defining vote, I can run—I can always vote no," Corker said. "Or you can vote as if you're the deciding vote on a bill. And I looked at the policy of where we were going to be if we didn't pass it or where we would be if we did, and while it was like eating a you-know-what sandwich to vote for this, to me it was a right of passage to this quarter."

The senator then reiterated his opinion that debate in Washington, D.C., shift to specific entitlement reform, mentioning his Dollar for Dollar Act as a starting point for discussion. Corker also suggested political donors not contribute to lawmakers who weren't serious about seeing the nation's entitlement programs specifically overhauled.

"I would not give one dime to a politician on either side of the aisle that will not sign on right now to specific entitlement changes," he said.

Tuesday night, the House approved the Senate bill in a 257-176 vote. Congressmen from East Tennessee, including Rep. Chuck Fleischmann and Rep. Scott DesJarlais, voted against the measure.